FEATURE

A KID WITH THE 'WRITE' IDEA WINS LOCAL COMPETITION

A 9-year-old boy wins a writing contest on what National Child Awareness Month means to him

By Scott McCourtney

A lucky 9-year-old boy won not only one Power Wheels, but two. The Festival of Children Foundation created a writing contest to celebrate National Child Awareness Month (NCAM) back in September and the lucky winner was a 9-year-old boy from Westminster named Martin “Tin Tin” That Ton. Ton won two Lighting McQueen Power Wheels, one of which he gets to keep and the other will be donated to Children’s Hospital of Orange County (CHOC) in his name and by his choice.

The Festival of Children’s Foundation wanted to promote NCAM and thought a writing contest for kids would be the best way. The writing contest asked children to write four sentences on what National Child Awareness Month meant to them. By using a basic acrostic from of writing, each entry form had to have a sentence starting with each letter in NCAM.

“Of all of the entries we received, Martin’s especially touched me. His thoughts about what [NCAM] means to him were so pure and heartfelt, they radiated off the page,” quoted Sandy Sergerstrom Daniels, founder and executive director of Festival of Children Foundation.

When asked what he thought about wining the Power Wheels, Martin said, “I love it and I like sharing it with my neighbors. My brothers said I wouldn’t win but I knew I would.”

Martin moved to California from Ohio two months ago and was given the form by his mother, Dieu. She found the form on the Internet while searching for a local Moon Festival, a popular lunar harvest festival celebrated by Chinese, Taiwanese and Vietnamese people. After visiting his mother’s native homeland of Vietnam, Martin came back with a will to help poor people and the elderly. He read the directions and filled out the form all by himself and really enjoyed the idea of giving one of the Power Wheels away to a charity of his choice.